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A Different Pond by Bao Phi

A Different Pondby Bao Phi; illustrated by Thi Bui. 2017. Published by Capstone Young Readers.

Brief summary: A young boy gets up early with his father on a Saturday when most people sleep in. They get ready to go fishing being sure to stop by the bait store to buy minnows. It is before dawn and still a little cold as they stand by the pond fishing. The boy gathers some wood to build a fire. As they wait for a bite, the father and son eat a bologna sandwich. His father talks about how he fished at a pond like this when he was a boy in Vietnam. They catch a few fish and are happy. The sun is starting to rise as they drive back home. The fish in the white bucket will be their dinner later that night. Both of his parents get ready to go to work leaving him to take care of his siblings. After dinner, he goes to sleep dreaming of the pond his father fished from as a child.

Comments: In the back of the book,Boa Phi shares his story of what it was like for his family to come to America as refugees from the war in 1975. He is the youngest of six children. Like the parents in the story, his parents worked multiple jobs as well. Bao Phi shares how they fished for food not as a sport but for food just like the family in this picture book.